Rise of the Orion Knight
by Ghostlyghostfan
Summary: Iron Man finds himself thoroughly outmatched by a fusion of the Hulk and the Goliath. But even once he calls in Wolverine, a new, non-SHIELD hero arrives and bags the criminal. But is he really a hero?


Ow.

Of the billions of things that could've gone through Tony Stark's mind at that exact moment, 'ow' was the only thing that actually did. He lifted his head, and for a long moment, he felt as though he was too hurt to keep the fight going. The first thing that he saw was the dust and dirt that now flooded the air; dust and dirt that had flown into the air when the superhero was thrown through a large brick wall. The old factory wasn't that stable when it was built, and tearing the wall open probably didn't help. He groaned before jumping up. The dust had created an impenetrable cloud through which he couldn't see with the naked eye.

"JARVIS, infrared if you wouldn't mind." The vision quickly switched to heat signatures, and though most of the area was cold due to the night air, one thing stood out spectacularly: The superheated, eight-foot-tall goliath that was now charging towards him. Tony swore, immediately turning and activating the rocket boots with which he was going to escape, but he failed when a colossal hand grasped his entire lower leg tight enough for Stark to hear his armor crumpling. Due to the flight failure, he immediately fell face down, the other boot powerful enough to send both him and his assailant through another brick wall.

After another few seconds, Iron Man had stopped flying, and he quickly turned to see his attacker. As JARVIS switched the vision back to ordinary automatically, Tony caught a brief glimpse of a pale white, Hulk-like creature practically made of muscles and teeth. Oh the teeth. As it roared several words in a language Tony didn't recognize, it smashed the armored Avenger through yet another brick wall. Tony would normally have wondered if the factory had assembled brick walls, but now was not the time. He tried to stand, but his left leg armor was too badly damaged, and though his foot remained intact, the armor's heel popped out at an angle that made standing on it virtually impossible.

As Tony leaned against what remained of the wall, the monster came barreling through it. When he roared this time, it wasn't in a language, it was in fury. Tony groaned again. "Probably not the best testing conditions..." For the first time in as far as he could remember, Tony tried to fly with just three boosters, keeping his left leg close to his body. The effect was similar to a twin-engine fighter jet trying to fly with only one engine: He kind of made it, but he was spinning horribly the entire time, and after breaking through the factory roof at an angle, he went crashing back into another section of it, immediately buried under too many bricks to try lifting off again.

Tony had one advantage now, and that was how loud he had re-entered. Considering the... intellect, of the monster he was fighting, it would take some searching to figure out exactly where he was now. Iron Man dug himself out quickly, and as he began, he whispered to JARVIS. "Bring up everything that we know about this guy, anything we could use as a weakness." By the time he had stood up, the computer began reading off information to Tony, and so the hero valiantly took cover in a corner where he could not only watch the whole room, but stay more unnoticed than if he stood in the middle of it.

"Franklin Redwood, alias White Goliath. Former associate of Dr. Henry Pym, the two had a falling out, and when Henry became Goliath, Franklin used his knowledge of the Pym particles to become White Goliath. However, Franklin was working on more projects than just the Pym particles: The very same gamma radiation that had birthed the Hulk mixed with the Pym particles, unknown to Franklin, and when he attempted to use them, he lost all rational thought, developing a Jekyll-and-Hyde complex. Now, Franklin wanders from town to town, half of him wanting to destroy everything he sees and half of him wanting to kill himself, neither in power long enough to fulfill their wishes."

Tony had reached down and was carefully tearing off the heel of his armor so he could atleast stand up. "That's wonderful, JARVIS, tragic story and all. None of it helps though, how do I take him down?" There was a moment of hesitation. "Hit him, hard. Adamantium and vibranium can theoretically pierce his skin if he shares any characteristics with the Hulk, but that's the best i've got." As the mass of white barreled into the room and immediately sighted Tony, he nodded as though JARVIS could see him and tossed his heel plate aside, once again able to stand. "Thanks."

As the White Goliath began charging at him, Tony activated all of the boosters he still had, sending him barreling into the beast, who certainly wasn't expecting it. As Tony spun out of control, so did the enemy, who went through three walls before smashing against something hard and groaning slightly as he rested back. Tony immediately jumped back, only using his hand repulsors to get himself away. He stood on the opposite side of the room as the White Goliath rose again, ready for more. Iron Man sighed as he lifted both repulsors. "You guys just don't learn to stay down..."

Milliseconds before he fired, the White Goliath hit him, using a speed that he was unfamiliar with. The blasters fired pointlessly into the air, missing the target by a mile as Tony tore through yet another brick wall. How many was this now, four? As he slowly stood up again, Tony looked down. Damnit. What little armor he had left on his left foot had broken away, and he was already starting to bleed. He looked up again, and there was the enemy. Not for much longer. Before he could even start to charge, Tony raised his repulsors to fire again, and once again, the White Goliath smashed into him at incredible speeds.

But this time, it was part of Tony's plan. As the Goliath hit him, most of the suit's power went directly to the chestplate, which fired a massive blast of energy before Franklin could even think. Though the hero blasted through the fifth brick wall, the White Goliath was thrown back through two more walls. After laying still in the silence for a long moment, Tony rose, walking over to where his enemy should have landed. Though there was rubble, colossal footprints in the dust indicated he had left, and though Tony ran as fast as he now could to catch him, by the time he had reached the exit, all he could see was the colossus jumping out of sight, behind a building.

Tony looked around. A couple cars had swerved to avoid hitting the Goliath, and a small crowd was beginning to gather. Iron Man sighed, sitting down on the sidewalk and saying a few quick words to JARVIS before removing his helmet. "I think I need a ride..." 


End file.
